Which to use
“keep” is a verb and “keeper” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #206
- “keep” frequency rank
- #6,929
- “keeper” frequency rank
- 7135
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | keep | keeper |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To continue in (a course or mode of action); to not intermit or fall from; to uphold or maintain. | One who keeps (retains) something. |
Where the eye mixes keep and keeper
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: keep vs keeper
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: keep is /kiːp/ while keeper is /ˈkiːpə/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “keep” sits inside “keeper”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7135, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
keep is recorded at frequency rank #206, classified as averb, pronounced /kiːp/. keeper is at rank #6,929, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkiːpə/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 7135, this pair ranks #508,418 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of keep vs keeper
Shared letters: ekp. Private to "keep": -. Private to "keeper": r.
"keep" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "keeper" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "keep" and "keeper" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "keep" or "keeper" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "keep" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "keeper" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #508,418 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "keep" and "keeper" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Keeley vs keeper". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #508,418 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.